I don't contribute to this forum or website much anymore. Not because I don't enjoy it but because I'm busy with other stuff. (I only ever contributed to Protest for the most part.) Whenever I do look at Protest anymore however I'm disappointed because gun ownership/second ammendment rights is NOT a priority issue. And this topic has dominated Protest for so long. I won't even bother to state my own position. Because regardless of what one's position is this is NOT a priority issue. That's the only part of my position on gun ownership worth stating. It's like being concerned about a fly on the wall while Rome burns. Or whatever metaphor I'm looking for. THE FACT THAT this issue apparently has dominated protest for so long DOES say something. It says that someone or something has somehow caused a significant number of people to be deceived into thinking something is more important than it is. It shows that minds have been highjacked. If you didn't understand this before you need to understand it now. (An un-nice way of saying the same thing would be to say that people are idiots. If you prefer.) THIS is a much more important issue. This may or may not rank as a priority issue. So what ARE the priority issues? You tell me. What are your suggestions? I am also happy to suggest possibilities. I'm not even saying these are the most important or which is the most important or in what order they belong or what should come at the head of the list. I'd have to think about it more than I have time to do right now. Which just goes to show this maybe is something we ordinarily don't think about but should. Our minds get highjacked by other crap. Anyway priority issues: 1) The number one cause of premature disease and death in the world. (But what is the #1 Cause?) 2) The number one cause of pain and suffering in the world (But what is the number #1 Cause?) Since I don't know the answers to the above questions, indicating that my mind has been highjacked and I was not educated like I should have been, let me offer some other priorities I do know for a fact. Call them at least sub priorities: -- Terrorism is NOT the USA's greatest threat. It's not even close. Probably the USA's greatest threat is socioeconomic and thus educational stagnation or even retrogression. Maybe people are getting fired up though. Even though they're not yet freezing and starving to death. But I think they're feeling the crunch. The War on Terror is nothing but a highjacking of minds. -- Socioeconomic inequity might be the biggest cause of pain and suffering worldwide. So what's the cause of socioeconomic inequity? Ignorance, greed, selfishness, bigotry... -- Overpopulation and thus suboptimal birth control has got to be right up there. -- If you're on Jeopardy next week and they ask you the #1 Killer in the United Sates BAR NONE and you want to win the money the right answer is tobacco. Pardon me "What is tobacco?" 430K deaths/year. You can't top that. Atherosclerosis comes in second at about 250K/year. And they' still selling trans fat. -- George Bush and his Republican buddies can pluck you off the street anytime they want and send you to a secret prison who knows where. Hey he can do anything he wants and gets away with it. Who gives a shit. --Global warming might well be a priority issue. -- A right winger told me the other day petroleum will be gone by 2026. If it's true things could get serious. Doesn't leave much time. I'm open to suggestions. But I'd definitely like to see people get with the program.
Not to be entirely negative I do applaud those of you like guitarpeace, opticnurv, woodstockchild and others at Protest who are interested in the broader picture and think about movements and organizing people and issues. But I also want narrow issue people to open their eyes and get involved. What about the 2008 elections? Do you think they are important? I do.
this is a great post. As for the gun control issue, I'm honestly not sure where I stand. Sure, guns are used for hurting people, thats the only thing they do, but then again, a lot of people have them for self defense. I carry a knife for self defense, but also to cut rope etc. but do I intend it as a weapon of self defense? Sure. so am I any better? As for my main issues; no war, drug legalization, the economy.
I'm for private ownership of rifles, shotguns, and other single-shot or non automatic guns. I'm for registered handguns, providing the owner has no criminal record or a history of violence. I am against fully automatic weapons being sold or owned in the U.S., and for restrictions on semi-automatic weapons that are not used for self-defense or hunting. Tell me, how many people need an AK-47 to take down a deer?
Double post. I'm against pre-empted war and police actions, I'm for the legalization of Marijuana and other drugs that do no real harm that isn't done by cigarettes and alcohol, I'm for putting a lot of money into research to cure cancer and AIDS, for ending all strains of polio and TB, and for destroying the last known samples of smallpox, I'm for civil rights and women's rights, and I think the enviroment should be top priority because if we don't stop it we all die.
I think some of the *big* issues range from health care, energy, poverty, war, care for the vets who fight in these wars, environmental issues, and the destruction of our world for concepts like "profit" and "economic growth." Health care- this country is in trouble b/c the health care system is privatized to the point that people don't matter anymore. People who need insurance the most are denied it and it is costing this country greatly. Think about the emergency room visits for families when they cannot afford to take their sick child to a doctor and the condition gets so bad that hospitalization is required. This causes increases in rates b/c if a family cannot afford to pay their bill, the debt is spread out among others. I don't know if gov't sponsored health care would be better, but the system is falling apart and it's time for SOMETHING to happen. energy- fossil fuels are not renewable and they release carbon dioxide when burnt. poverty- our country is only as great as the people on the bottom rung of society. My fiance told me about a woman who visited his church when he was younger. The first time she came, she was dressed nicely, spoke eloquently, and was warmly received by the congregation. Later, a smelly, dirty, unkempt bag lady appeared at the church and was treated w/ a certain disdain. A few weeks later, the nicely dressed woman came back, w/ pictures in hand. She said "I came here before and you treated me kindly. When I came back as a homeless person, I was treated as someone lesser than you." She had the pictures to prove it and basically called the crowd out, even the preacher. It is this attitude that people in poverty are "too lazy" or "need to get a job" that is damaging our society. war- kill or be killed. Iraq was a war built on the lies of an administration- how can any good come from this? I'll leave this here for now, but I think there are so many issues that do come from ignorance and delusion as has been mentioned by the OP. We must awaken to reality or be destroyed by our delusion and ignorance. Peace and love
SDS Maybe you haven’t been reading the recent gun thread because basically I’m asking the same thing you are, why do so many American’s seemingly ignore their society’s problems. But it seem to me that the desire for guns among many of them is only an outward manifestation of more deep rooted attitudes that have a tendency to hold back societal reform. Try reading - http://www.hipforums.com/forums/showpost.php?p=3438947&postcount=9 Basically I belief there is a widespread attitude in the US that accepts threat of violence, intimidation and suppression as legitimate means of societal control and this mindset gets in the way of them actually working toward solutions to their social and political problems. For example you say - -- Terrorism is NOT the USA's greatest threat. It's not even close. Probably the USA's greatest threat is socioeconomic and thus educational stagnation or even retrogression. Maybe people are getting fired up though. Even though they're not yet freezing and starving to death. But I think they're feeling the crunch. The War on Terror is nothing but a highjacking of minds. But terrorism is just the latest in a long line of ‘threats’, that have been used as distraction and motivator, the British, savage Indians, the yellow peril, uppity blacks, reds under the beds, reefer madness, the evil empire, the war on drugs, the axis of evil and now the war on terror. Can you think of a moment in US history then there wasn’t a threat, when one fades another always seemed to takes its place. And the threat often drives out rational thought, and is used to sanction suppression at home and abroad. ** You see the gun issue brought up and all you see is guns, I see the gun issue as the tip of an iceberg that says a lot more about US society than is first seen at the surface. **
SDS What are the priorities? Well what do you want to do? The things you raised where a mix of global and domestic. Here are a few musings. * A National Heath Service free at the point of service. Investment in infrastructural networks such as clinics, cheap public transport, low cost housing, schools, training centres, etc, and the people to run them. Trying to move away from the idea that a person’s social status is only (or mostly) based on material possessions. Trying to replace a destructive individualism with more community based ideas. Trying to limiting the more destructive forms of consumerism by encouraging saving. Banning of all advertising aimed at children and making sure all children have access to child care and a nursery place (subsidised according to wealth) Regulating drug laws making some legal (giving licences to small businesses) and others given through proscription while dealing with the addiction. The money taken in taxes been used to finance free rehab centres and realistic drug education programmes. Prostitution would be legalised regulated and taxed, with the money raised being used in try and educate people about the sex industry, tackling STD’s and getting people out of the trade if they want to. ** Rewrite the US constitution Bringing in proportional representation. Limit the influence of money in politics Heavily regulate and monitor lobby firms and think tanks. ** Try and work toward a democratically elected world government A democratically elected world credit bank A democratically elected world trade organisation An International Criminal Court International labour laws Close all ‘of shore’ tax havens. Bring in a Tobin tax Re-regulate the financial and banking sector ** Change the way energy companies get paid for their produces, they get paid for how much is saved not for how much is used. Move toward alternative energy sources, wind, wave, sun. Heavily tax gas guzzling cars Tax breaks for alternative energy cars and those using bikes. Higher tax for planes Lower taxes for trains. Bring in congestion charging in all cities and large towns. New eco-friendly building regulations. Grants to insulate already constructed domestic and commercial buildings against heat and cold. **
